Trailer sway crash - GIF

[greenie]

The only way to stop that immediately, if the van has brakes fitted, is to apply the van brakes hard, that straightens it out and slows the whole vehicle down to an acceptable speed. Once it is pulled straight and some speed washed of, start using the go pedal sparingly and away you go with just a dirty set of undies and no broken van. If the van has NO brakes, then this will be the outcome just about every time this happens. The moron driving was giving it too much pedal and when he broke out of the windbreak caused by the truck, then 'Shits are trumps'. Been out on the road for over 30 yrs and seen this a few times, don't even bother to stop now-a-days, they caused it, so they can clean their own crap up.

[NeiljohnUK]

The only way to stop that immediately, if the van has brakes fitted, is to apply the van brakes hard, that straightens it out and slows the whole vehicle down to an acceptable speed.

In Europe we have the Al-Ko Trailer Control (ATC) system available that does that automatically https://www.alko-tech.com/uk/al-ko-trailer-control-atc, the other thing we have is their Delta axle, where the axle's angles change under swinging load to help cancel the movement, ridged straight axles don't help when things start swinging. https://www.alko-tech.com/uk/al-ko-s...weight-chassis

[Frank S]

The only way to stop that immediately, if the van has brakes fitted, is to apply the van brakes hard, that straightens it out and slows the whole vehicle down to an acceptable speed. Once it is pulled straight and some speed washed of, start using the go pedal sparingly and away you go with just a dirty set of undies and no broken van. If the van has NO brakes, then this will be the outcome just about every time this happens. The moron driving was giving it too much pedal and when he broke out of the windbreak caused by the truck, then 'Shits are trumps'. Been out on the road for over 30 yrs and seen this a few times, don't even bother to stop now-a-days, they caused it, so they can clean their own crap up.

You are correct, in most cases a quick short stab of the trailer brakes while applying pressure to the throttle will pull everything back in alignment long enough to regain control, allowing the driver to get further away from the currents created by the truck. The problem there is most new pickups now come with factory installed trailer braking and must be pre programed with the length and weight of the trailer entered into the trucks computer in order for them to function properly, there is no obvious lever to apply the trailer brakes separately. on some pickups it will be a slide bar but it is so well disguised in the dash it is hard to locate it may even be a goofy touch pad in the multi function view screen you slide you finger across like answering or hanging up many cell phones.
everything requires familiarity with the vehicles systems, something too few drivers take the time to learn.
And then there are the trailers with inertia hydraulic braking systems on those there is no possibility of applying the trailer brakes without the truck slowing first, However a quick hard very brief stab on the tucks brakes and immediately stepping on the throttle hoping there will be spontaneous braking on the trailer and slow enough release to regain control.
Even newer Semi trucks have limited access to what we used to call the Johney bar for applying the trailer brakes. Gone are the days of the simple round steering column, with a turn indicator on the left and a trolly valve mounted on the right